The Nine Muses and its ghosts…

With one of the highlights of my year, The Cambridge Film Festival, only a few tantalising weeks away, it just so happens that I have been re-watching one of the films shown at last year's festival - The Nine Muses. At the time I found the film beautiful and poetic, although I also felt it …

A fleeting glance at Take Care of your Scarf, Tatjana…

One of my favourite films by Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, and a brilliant example of how less is more. This is a black and white, ultra deadpan, minimalist comedy which, below its surface, has an abundance of heart. Lana Wilson in Senses of Cinema:- A’60s road comedy about two middle-aged men in a vintage Cadillac …

Fellini’s La Strada

This month's very well attended Screen St Ives presentation was Fellini's La Strada. The average audience rating for the film was a very reasonable 4 out of 5. There was a particularly interesting post-film discussion reflecting a range of reactions to the movie. Some of the observations emerging from that discussion are reflected in the …

Once Upon A Time In Anatolia

My short review published online in One Hundred Words Magazine [no longer available]:- Nuri Bilge Ceylan is one of the most gifted directors in the world; Once Upon A Time In Anatolia is his latest magnificent creation. What seems a simple police procedural is in fact a fascinating, intricate character study and philosophical essay, full …

Too Many Cinematic Masterpieces?

This short piece by Geoff Andrew caught my eye: O masterpiece, where art thou? [no longer available]. Between a couple of Berlin’s press screenings, Nick James and I found ourselves discussing the overuse of ‘masterpiece’, a word apparently as vulnerable to abuse as ‘classic’. I felt uncomfortable on reading this, since I'm probably guilty of …

Lynch and Kiarostami

Two interesting articles with perhaps only a tenuous connection: they both feature critics talking about the cinema which excites them. In this Guardian piece Peter Bradshaw talks about Blue Velvet, and why 25 years after first seeing the film it still captivates him. There is much I admire in David Lynch's work (though certainly not …

…eagerly awaiting the new Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Jostling for top position on my imaginary list of great living directors, with the likes of Bela Tarr, is the unique Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan. His latest film, Once Upon A Time In Anatolia, which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes last year, is finally to be released in the UK next …